Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon
by Sam's Choice
Open Food Facts label for barcode 0078742101439 · Sam's Choice · Frozen foods. Screening numbers and flags live in the verdict band below. This hero only situates the source record.
The verdict
Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon by Sam's Choice scores 85/100 in PlainFoodSafe's ingredient screening. We compared its 52 labeled ingredients with FDA SAFFA regulatory records and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings; 1 ingredient is flagged for caution. The source parser split this into a very long 52-component record, beginning with Cooked Enriched Macaroni, Water, Semolina. That density can include amounts and label fragments, so verify the physical label before relying on ingredient order or completeness. This is not a recall, allergy, medical, or dietary-safety determination.
- 85/100
- Caution safety score
- 1
- One flagged · of 52 analyzed
- Group 4
- Ultra-processed
- D
- Nutri-Score nutrition grade
Computed directly from OpenFoodFacts ingredient data cross-referenced with FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine ratings. See our methodology for the scoring formula.
Composite profile score
One verdict from three independent sources
55/100
Grade C
Ingredient Safety
85/100
FDA/CSPI flagged-ingredient screening
Processing Level
NOVA 4
Ultra-processed foods
Nutrition Grade
D
Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition grade
Weighted 50% ingredient safety / 25% processing level / 25% nutrition grade. A dimension with no data for this product (common: source coverage is partial) is dropped and its weight redistributes across the remaining dimensions, so missing data never silently lowers the score. See the full benchmark table.
42101439 · Open Food Facts · July 2026
Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon label screening desk
15 of 52 parsed ingredients carry FDA SAFFA or CSPI coverage (lead: Sodium Nitrite). Source sheet 42101439 · Open Food Facts · July 2026. The screening score and flag counts are in the verdict band above. This desk is the provenance stamp, not a second scorecard. Methodology · Read with nearest score peer: Wrapped Sandwiches · Nearest score peer is Wrapped Sandwiches at the same screening score.
Screening model notes
How Nutri-Score, NOVA, and list length read this record
The composite for this product falls in the second band of the four-tier framework. That band collects labels whose registry-rated components pull the derived score down measurably without dominating it. Position inside a band is not visible from the band name, and two labels sharing it can differ in how many components were rated and how severely. This is a threshold on an index computed here from public data, not a regulatory classification of any kind; the exact cut-offs are published on the methodology page.
This label falls in the fourth Nutri-Score band. The model arrives there when its penalty terms — energy density, sugars, saturated fat, sodium — carry more weight in the calculation than the fibre, protein and produce content it credits. The band covers a wide span of the points scale, so position within it is not visible from the letter alone. The grade reflects the declared nutrition panel and is unrelated to the additive ratings listed below, which come from different bodies applying different criteria.
The declared list is among the longer ones in this catalogue. A component set this wide means the screen returns many individual ratings, and the composite accumulates a large number of small contributions instead of turning on a handful of entries. At this length the per-component table below is substantially more informative than the single figure, because the figure compresses a great deal of variation into one number.
Cross-brand screening score neighbourhood
How It Compares to Its Category
Among the 24,982 products we've scored in the Frozen foods category, the average safety score is 92.9/100. Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon scores 7.9 points below that category average (85/100 vs. 92.9/100), so it is a comparatively weaker pick for shoppers screening within that category specifically, rather than against the product catalog as a whole.
Ingredient-list length vs other Frozen foods products
Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon lists 52 ingredients on its label
52 81st percentile a longer ingredient list than 81% of the 7,008 products we track
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more products. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Distribution as text
- 0–2
- 11 products (0%)
- 2–4
- 54 products (1%)
- 4–6
- 54 products (1%)
- 6–8
- 66 products (1%)
- 8–10
- 102 products (1%)
- 10–12
- 112 products (2%)
- 12–14
- 184 products (3%)
- 14–16
- 205 products (3%)
- 16–18
- 245 products (3%)
- 18–20
- 284 products (4%)
- 20–22
- 264 products (4%)
- 22–24
- 298 products (4%)
- 24–26
- 247 products (4%)
- 26–28
- 271 products (4%)
- 28–30
- 284 products (4%)
- 30–32
- 294 products (4%)
- 32–34
- 325 products (5%)
- 34–36
- 319 products (5%)
- 36–38
- 314 products (4%)
- 38–40
- 283 products (4%)
- 40 and above
- 2,792 products (40%)
Source Open Food Facts, product label ingredient lists · July 2026
Ingredient-list length is a descriptive property of the label, not a safety rating. A longer list is not automatically worse and a shorter one is not automatically better; the count is shown so the label can be placed against a comparable population. The comparison here runs against the 7,008 Frozen foods products we publish with a parsed label, not against the whole catalogue, because list length varies far more between categories than within one.
Ingredient Safety Analysis
How the 85/100 score is built
Screening starts at 100 and subtracts severity-weighted FDA SAFFA / CSPI flags (1 flagged of 52 labeled). The floor is 0 when deductions exceed 100.
Full Ingredient List
Cooked enriched macaroni (water, semolina [wheat], egg whites, niacin, iron [ferrous sulfate], thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, cheddar cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto [vegetable color]), cheddar club cheese (cheddar cheese [cultured pasteurized milk, salt, enzymes], water, salt, annatto [color]), bacon (cured with water, salt, sugar, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, may also contain dextrose, honey, potassium chloride, smoke flavoring, sodium diacetate, and sodium phosphate), margarine (palm oil, water, salt, mono - and diglycerides, artificial butter flavor, annatto [color], calcium disodium edta [preservative], vitamin a palmitate), smoked cheddar cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, annatto [color]), half & half (milk, cream), nonfat dry milk, modified cornstarch, rice flour, cheddar cheese powder (cheddar cheese [milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes], disodium phosphate, salt, lactic acid), salt, lactic acid (modified food starch and lactic acid), mono - and diglycerides with citric acid, spice.
Other products containing Mono - And Diglycerides With Citric Acid
Mono - And Diglycerides With Citric Acid is the least common ingredient on this label, appearing in 3 products across the catalog. See its safety profile.
Categories
More from Sam's Choice
High-score cross-brand comparables for Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon
Neighbours outside Sam's Choice with screening scores in the same high band as Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon (85/100 here). The 5 same-brand links above stay within Sam's Choice; these peers cross brands.
Same high-band screening score
Nearest cross-brand products by screening score (1 flagged of 52 on 0078742101439).
Long-label peers (21+ ingredients)
Nearest cross-brand labels by linked ingredient count (52 on 0078742101439).
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Follow the flagged-label evidence
Sodium Nitrite is the first flagged ingredient selected from Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon's parsed label. Start with that ingredient’s source context, then compare the rest of this 52-ingredient record.
- Inspect the FDA SAFFA and CSPI context attached to Sodium Nitrite. Open Sodium Nitrite
- Compare Mac & cheese, cheddar & bacon's 1 flagged ingredients with a product from the same score neighbourhood. Compare labels
- Check how caution flags contribute to the derived screening score before drawing a dietary conclusion. Read the method
This page describes published ingredient-list and source coverage. It is not dietary or medical advice.
Barcode 0078742101439: product data from Open Food Facts (July 2026). Screening from FDA SAFFA and CSPI Chemical Cuisine where attached. Figures are computed from those sources, not editor-typed. Methodology. Reference only, not dietary or medical advice.